Sunday, October 18, 2015

Chennai has few
good stretches of roads… may be because Madras was not a planned city. The arterial Mount Road (Anna Salai) takes most of
the traffic and there are no parallel roads.
The city has choked many a times whenever political agitation or a show
of strength by any leader left the city
paralysed. The balance is so thin that
some diversion occurring somewhere, would adversely affect people elsewhere and
one can see huge crowds waiting for the buses and vehicles piling up unable to
move.

With Metro rail,
something impossible happened – traffic in the main artillery road – Mount Road
aka Anna Salai was regularized. Many
eye-brows were raised when effective 1st March 2012, prime part of the Mount Road after
Devi Paradise complex – from Wellington junction [just prior to Alankar theatre
and LIC] was made one way – vehicles plying towards Spencers Signal were not
allowed to use that stretch of Anna Salai and were re-directed towards GP Road,
Whites Road, to join Anna Salai near United India HO. Slowly, people got used to changes and the
traffic in one side of the road started flowing somewhat freely ! – to those
who frequent Anna Salai, it would ever remain a mystery as to how the small
Smith road is taking the traffic of transport buses and more !!. Subsequently more parts of the Mount Road
became one way… there were many other parts of Chennai too which took the
brunt.

The motorists have taken
all the burden ~ the roadmap keeps changing as the underground work progresses –
away in Saidapet and longer in elevated corridor, people have seen the work
going on overhead – slowly the construction works gets firmed up and yesterday
travelling saw the blue metro train coming on the bend – indeed an enjoyable
sight.

Metro
at Saidapet

To recapitulate, under
Chennai Metro 2 corridors have been
proposed. The first one running from
Washermanpet to Chennai airport through – Broadway, Central, Govt Estate,
Spencers, Gemini, Saidapet, Guindy…… the other running from Chennai Central to
St Thomas Mount through Vepery, KMC, Aminjikarai, Shenoynagar, Thirumangalam,
Koyambedu, Vadapalani. The portions of
Corridor-1 with a length of 14.3 kms. fromWashermanpet to Saidapet, and
Corridor-2 with a length of 9.7 kms. from Chennai Central to Anna Nagar 2nd
Avenue will be underground and the remainder elevated.

On 29th June 2015 – a distance of 10 Kilometers from Koyambedu to
Alandur, the first phase of the much anticipated multi-crore Metro Rail chugged
off with Chief Minister Ms.JJayalalithaa flagging off the inaugural service. The entire route is on an elevated structure
covering a distance of 10.15 km, with stations at Alandur, Ekkathuthangal,
Ashok Nagar, Vadapalani, Arumbakkam and Koyambedu besides the yard at the last
stop.

Metro
nearing Alandur

On 14th
Oct, Chennai Metro Rail (CMRL) began its trial runs between Alandur and Little
Mount. The line is part of the
Saidapet-Alandur-Airport elevated stretch of the Washermanpet-Airport corridor. According to an Official, the operation was
smooth and more trials would be conducted.
Several rounds of trials and testing are needed before a line can be
submitted for tests by commissioner of metro rail safety to get approval for
passenger services. The trials will look at the behaviour of signals,
electrical traction, oscillation of tracks and functioning of trains on the
route and at the stations. The CMRL plans to commission the service between
Alandur and Chennai airport by March 2016 even as construction of stations is
progressing in this section. It is
stated that four stations – Officers ' Training Academy, Alandur, Guindy and
Little Mount – were covered during the trials.

KK
Nagar Sivan Temple from Metro

A day after this trial run, the first ever underground trial
started on Saturday from Thirumangalam Ramp to Anna Nagar Tower Metro Rail
station. According to officials of Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL), an OHE
inspection wagon started running from Thirumangalam Ramp from 11 a.m. up to 1
p.m. The inspection was to check various aspects including track work,
signalling and other electrical and civil works along this 2-km stretch.

Chennai Metro is
cosy comfort and a good facility and it is for the Chennai residents – and it
likely to change the way Chennaites commute !